Lethe
by lordhaxsupreme
Summary: I fell into the river fighting some crazy ghost lady. You'd think I'd remember, wouldn't you? Bummer is, I wouldn't even know my own name anymore if it wasn't for Chloё. But now I've got to work out who I am: find my past; get through the present; save the future. Oh, and by the way? If I don't do it soon, the world is gonna end, so I'd better hurry.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

I was introduced to Percy Jackson as a young teen, and I was hooked pretty much straight away. Now I am writing about it it seems so long ago from the time that Percy first discovered the true nature of himself and his powers, whilst also discovering the two people who would end up being his lifelong friends (and a bit more for Annabeth). But this story isn't solely about the characters we all know and love. In fact, it is a completely new (well, almost) set of characters, each with a new background and original personality.

Thankfully I know just about the right amount about Greek mythology in order to write the story, otherwise it would be entirely pants. Concerning the most recent books in the series, however, that being _Trials of Apollo,_ I am clueless as to what events have taken place, because I haven't read them yet. But don't panic though, I will have before I've gone too far into the story, I've got it all under control.

The name I came up with for my protagonist is unique (so far), because it was developed for a game idea I have had since 2014, so DON'T STEAL IT! I will tut profusely if I see it has been stolen from me, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


	2. Foreword

**Foreword**

Hey! My name is Haxolo Contrastac and I'd thought I'd tell you my story. Notice the weird name? Well until a few days ago I didn't even know my name. Chloё found me on the edge of the Lethe and luckily I hadn't drowned, but I was so ill I wasn't aware of anything 'till I woke up yesterday. The Lethe is one of the 5 rivers of the underworld so I'm told, and unfortunately for me it had to be the mind-erasing one.

Anyway, my name is unique, no one shares any part of it. Apart from my family, but I can't remember them so never mind that! My godly parent is a mystery and my mortal parent, well, even before the amnesia kicked in I never knew who they were. The only reason I have my name was because a note was left at the orphanage where I was dumped.

Enough of me though, It's about time I got onto the basics of the situation. Where to start? New monsters lurking around every corner, the ever present threat from the newly found Kronos' Tome of time (long story), and a new break away group of demigods that have decided that we don't make our presence known in society and that a new era of godly rule is required to set things right. Fasten your seat belts and hold on tight, 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a ride!


	3. The storyteller

**Chapter 1: The storyteller**

Darkness. That was all I could see here. That was my mind right now. My memories and myself were all gone. So when I woke up and I found the girl staring down at me, eyes pleading for me to be okay, I was anxious.

"Do I know you?" this was all I could say. When you didn't know who you were or anything else for that matter what else would you ask a stranger?

"I...I...Haxolo, Don't you know me? It's me, Chloё" Chloё was completely distraught with the revelation that I didn't know who she was, but so was I, for a different reason.

"I'm sorry but how did I get here? Who am I? What is this place? Tell me, please, I'm begging you"

"Calm down...It's gonna be alright...I promise" But I knew she didn't feel that way inside, she was just trying to help me. She helps me up from the floor, and I find a river to my left, and that we're in a cavern of some kind. A very big cavern.

"I think I should get this out, but you are not gonna take it so well"

"Anything is better than nothing, please…" and so Chloё continues on,

"This place, this is where the dead go to be reborn, to the river you see before you. It's a magical river, and it will cleanse the person of all their past life, that's what has happened to you."

"So, I'm dead?"

"No, not yet, but you fell into the river fighting Melinoe, the goddess of ghosts, and you, well, you weren't protected."

"What? I don't understand. I fell into a magical river fighting a goddess, and now I can't remember anything?"

"Yes." I took a moment to process this whilst she tried to get the fire going again. Once the flames started to rise again, she turned back to me and asked me if I remembered anything at all.

"Not a bean" Chloё smiled ruefully at that, obviously remembering something that I probably never will.

"So then, what about me? Who am I?" I was eager to know, but Chloё took her time answering.

"I think it would be better if I gave you a bit more background first. So, there are gods in the world, powerful gods capable of many things, twelve major ones and a lot of minor ones. All of these gods are Olympians, and they rule over the world so to speak, but regular mortals don't actually know they exist. People like us, however, know better. We are demigods, and we are capable of some things that normal people can't do, because we have a godly parent and we share some of their powers."

"Wait, you're saying that gods have kids with humans and that's what we are? How many of us are there?"

"Until recently, about two years ago, we believed that there were only a handful of us, forty maybe fifty, but then we discovered that there were two camps containing children like us. Camp Half-Blood, based around the gods' Greek personas, and Camp Jupiter, for Romans. You and I, we're residents of the first one, because when we were conceived, our parents were in their Greek state at the time."

"Right...so I'm a Greek demigod. Do you know who's my godly parent?" This was weird, but I had no reason to doubt her, I didn't know otherwise after all.

"No, we never found out who your parent was, and we don't know who your mortal parent was too. You would always say that the only thing you knew about your parentage was their last name: Contrastac, that's the name that was given to you as was instructed by the letter left to the orphanage you grew up in"

Although I didn't really have any hopes to begin with, they were knocked down nevertheless. It was just my luck that I had no leads to go on other than my name. Contrastac? What kind of name was that?

"So, all you know about my past is that I was raised in an orphanage and that someone left me a name. Tell me about you, what's your name?"Chloё was surprised at this, but began anyway,

"Well, my name's Chloё Tarver, and I'm a daughter of Harmonia, goddess of harmony. I'm from the Midwest but I've lived in New York for a year now at a boarding school so I could go to camp half-blood during the summer. I've known you for 3 months, ever since you came to camp, and you were...cautious of things, didn't trust people, didn't like to make friends. I changed that. I got to know you and eventually you opened up. We trained together, we worked together and eventually we became a thing. You asked me out just last week, but now I don't know what to do, I feel like I've lost you."

" _Whoa! Overload. She's my girlfriend? What the hell do I do now? I can't love her if I can't remember her, but I could comfort her._ " That's what I thought to myself, and that's what I did as she began to cry

"I'm sorry, It must be hard for you, seeing as I don't love you now, but I think that the old me wouldn't want you to cry."

Chloё sniffs and wipes her tears away

"No, you're right, he wouldn't have." And out of nowhere she hugs me. But more in a friendly way than in a lover's way.

"How long have we been down here? Would people be missing us?"

"Umm...I think about three days now, and people already know we're down here, I sent an Iris message to camp. Help should be here any time soon. I think you should get some rest, it'll do you good."

"But I ー"

"Don't argue with me Mr. Mystery, get some rest!" Chloё told me firmly, taking no for an answer

"Yes ma'am" and so I laid back down and closed my eyes, falling into unconsciousness. Sleep may help me rest, but had I known that demigods have untold nightmares I would have probably just opted for confronting Chloё instead.

 **Well, that's the first chapter over. They did a lot of talking and it kind of made it drag on, but I hope that the way it explained my antagonists' pasts was sufficient enough.**

 **The next chapter will be a dream that previews the events to come, and I will be writing it soon.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you later!**


	4. Dream walker

**Chapter 2: Dream walking**

I find that my dream journey has taken my to a dungeon room. The walls were mould covered and scratches were all over its surfaces from some sort of giant monster. On the far side of the room were two figures, one was so tall that he towered over the room, and over his acquaintance whom was dwarfed by the giant, but she was no shorty. She was considerably above average height from what I could see of them both, but it was so dark in the dungeon that all I could make out was their figures.

"How far is our progress Erida? You said we would be done last week but you were wrong again!" The monolith spoke in a quiet and slightly irritated voice towards his companion.

"I'm sorry my lord but I didn't know that the insufferable orphan boy would thwart our plans last week, and as for the spawn of Harmonia…"

"Enough! I've already had enough of it, do not waste your breath."

"Yes m'lord. We have finally found its location and we have managed to secure the perimeter around the site, hopefully no interfering demigods will be able to stop us this time."

"You had better be correct Erida, for if I find otherwise, your time in the upper world will be so short that you will believe that you had never been away from Tartarus in the first place."

Right at this point the iron door is slammed open and a small guard of three sea dog creatures came in, hauling two near unconscious bodies behind them. Their commander began to bark to his leader

"Excuse me sir, you said to bring these two to you,"

"Good. leave them there, I will deal with them myself. Everyone leave me, I must attend to our… guests"

Just then the scene fades away and I end up somewhere else. As much as I don't remember, this place seems familiar. Feelings of peace and serenity fill me here, but also sadness. I see a boy on the floor next to an old apple tree a few yards away, but I can't see who he is or why he is down there. I walk over to him and he looks at me.

"Nice to see you here. I must warn you of something terrible, before it happens, so you're prepared. That's why I'm talking to you in your dream." He sighs, then continues "You won't remember me, I know that, but you've got to trust me"

"Can you tell me who you are? At least give me that."

"No, it's not time yet. I don't usually appear to mortals, but you will find the true me soon enough. It has been too long and you need answers to questions you've never known the answer to, not even before the river.

"To begin then. A new enemy has risen, and is close to the end of his first task. The second task, once he has finished, will change everything we know. But if he manages to complete the third task...I think you will understand." the boy, or whoever he was, was looking at me with penetrating eyes, and somehow I knew he was right.

"My powers are strong, but dream communication is draining. We have little time left to waste. Haxolo, I hope you find what you are looking for, but remember, not all things are as they seem. I knew a girl once, she was my shining star and I hoped that she would be able to stay, but the fates did not permit it. Now you must find your own shining star, and hopefully you will not let it fade like I once did."

"I don't understand, what does that mean?"

"You will find her soon enough, and then you shall understand. Farewell."

"Wait…" but he had already faded away, as had the woodland, the sky and the ground I stood on. I was falling, falling. Falling…

I woke with a start, and knocked my head on a cabinet that was hanging over the bunk I was in,

"Ow! Who put that there?" I complained. At that point, several people came rushing into the room I was asleep in, all asking if I was alright.

"Of course I am, I think. Who's idea was it to put a cupboard there? Above a bed of all places."

"Dunno. So, do you know where you are?" asked a ratty looking boy, dressed in the same orange shirt as everyone else in the room, including myself.

"I don't even know who you are, let alone where I am"

"Oh...I just thought you'd know. Anyway, we managed to get you to camp during the night, we're surprised you slept through to be fair." He explains, then starts introducing several people "First off, I'm Ryan, son of Hermes. This over here is Ellie." A girl in the corner curtseyed and smiled "She's a child of Hebe, goddess of youth."

Ellie now talks "We're also related, which is weird. My Dad and his mother were siblings which makes me his cousin"

"Oh and that over there is Alice, can't you just tell she's the war god's daughter?" The punk girl on the right of him was incredulous to the fact that Ryan had disrespected her Father. When she spoke she pretty much made that clear

"You are _so_ dead Ryan Lassiter, have respect for my father you jackass"

"See what I mean?" but any other comment he might have made was interrupted by a few punches from the punk that clearly broke his nose, due to him running off crying and swearing. Ellie looked at Alice with shock then followed her cousin out.

"It was regrettable that you had to see that, but he needed it. As for introductions, I'm Alice Ytterby, daughter of Ares. My mom and I moved from Sweden last year when I was picked up by a protector. My mom decided to move over with me."

"Right, nice to meet you. So, what do I do now? Can someone tell me more about everything?"

"I think it would be better if I took you to see the big man. You'll love him, just don't get surprised by his appearance got it?"

"Sure." and with that she led me out of the room I was in, which appeared to be some kind of medical room, into a room that was almost four times as big. Ping pong tables, arcade machines, a drinks dispenser and even a moving leopard head littered the room. But as my eyes circled the place, my attention quickly turned to the man at the far end. When Alice had said about not being worried about his appearance, I hadn't prepared for someone like this. He was part horse.

 **Well, here we are at the end of the second chapter. I hope it was good reading but then again my writer's block probably made me come up with trash. It would be nice if you could leave me a comment or two to say whether you enjoyed the chapters so far, even if you think it is a load of pants.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you again next time!**


	5. Dare

**Chapter 3: Dare**

"Haxolo, please do take a seat."

So that's what I did. I sat down, took a deep breath and waited for him to speak. But first his attention turned to Alice,

"Alice, punching people in the face will not solve any problems here, you should know that by now. I want you to apologise to Ryan straight away for breaking his nose, then you can help Percy clean up the beach from the storm last night."

"Help Percy? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Just do it, unless you want toilet cleaning duty"

"Fine! I'll help Percy" and with that Alice leaves the room, leaving me alone with mister horse-man.

"Hello Haxolo. I never thought I'd do introductions twice but here I am. I am Chiron, and I'm activities director here at camp Half-blood. This is a place for training young demigods such as yourself for protecting themselves and also for quests that are given to us by the gods and our oracle."

"So you train us?" He nodded and continued

"Yes, quite a lot of activities here will be taken by me: archery being one of the many things you'll be able to do here."

"Cool...so uh, what else do we do around here? I guess swords and stuff would be used, right?"

Chiron rolled his eyes, but continued talking to me with his calm demeanour.

"You'll be fighting monsters, so yes, there will be ' _swords and stuff,_ 'as you put it."

Yeah, I guess this guy never really got on with me before. But as I really don't know what the hell was going on, I chose to be indifferent to it.

"So, Mr. Chiron sir, can you tell me more about the gods? Everyone has said that Greek gods are real, but first off I don't even know what Greeks are, let alone what the hell is up with me."

The centaur folded his arms and looked me straight in the eyes.

Haxolo, there are so many things that I could say about the mythical world, but I'm afraid we just do not have the time. However, I will try to cover the basics. So as Chloe has told you, there are twelve Olympian gods and a multitude of minor gods. What you need to know is that there are also monsters, Titans, and Giants that are intent on destroying everything we know and love. It is our job to protect the mortal world from such threats, but training is required to do so.

"The twelve Olympian gods are the powerful rulers of the Earth, which they do from mount Olympus on top of the Empire State building in New York" That clearly was meant to mean something but I just stared at him blankly "Never mind...anyway, The twelve gods are Zeus, king of the gods, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Hephaestus, Demeter, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Apollo and Artemis. Each are of tremendous power and have a certain...expertise shall we say? Zeus is the god of the sky, Hermes the god of travellers, thieves and messengers, and Athena is the goddess of wisdom. So, all of the children you will see here are all part god, and that means you are too."

I look at Chiron again and I wonder how many times he has told people this.

"Now I must tell you, we do not know your parentage. Your godly parent should claim you once you are thirteen, but that has evidently not happened. We must assume there is a reason for this, but it is irregular for a seventeen year old to remain unclaimed by a god."

Just at that point A red headed girl walks in through the door and smiles at me.

"Ah, I'm glad you came Rachel. Would you mind introducing yourself to our guest?"

This girl was very attractive, but from her body language I could tell she wouldn't be interested.

"Well, we've been introduced before but I guess you'd never remember that. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare and I'm the oracle of Delphi. That means I can predict the future"

"Great, so can you tell me if I get out of this mess or not? 'Cause I'd appreciate it if you could."

Rachel now smiles ruefully and replies that she can't.

No, it only happens at times when I prompted to by the spirit of Delphi inside me. That usually means I make prophecies about really important stuff, not stuff like that."

"Well thank you Rachel for helping him understand. But I wonder if I can ask you to show Haxolo around. I'm sure he'd love to see the place." She curtseyed and said that she would.

"Come on Mr. Mystery, I've got a tight schedule so get on with it."

"Alright, alright! Give me a minute. Thank you for talking to me."

"Oh, it's just Chiron but you're welcome. I will see you again later, but for now, have a good tour."

And with that Rachel led the way out of the building to the open air. It took a good look around and it hurt my eyes. Not just because the light was more intense out here than where I'd been recently, but because my natural instinct felt diminished here. I was so drained I almost collapsed onto Rachel.

"Whoa! You okay? Want a medic or something?" You've done this before now but not as bad as this."

"Nah, I'm good. Let's get on with the tour or we'll never get anywhere!"

 **So, that's the end of this chapter, and it took ages to write! With me back at college it will take at least a week for me to write each chapter from now on so I apologise for** **any** **inconvenience. Please leave feedback and tell me what you thought.**

 **Next chapter will have a tour of Camp, along with us meeting some more old faces along the way. Hope to see you all soon!**


	6. The Sword

**Chapter 4: The Sword**

As we walked along across the strawberry fields from the Big House as they called it, Rachel was explaining all of what had happened during the last 5 years or so, as well as some more information that I was missing. She told me of what all the gods powers were, introduced me to some of the people we'd met on the way round and also filled my in on the Titan war, the Giant war and the recent loss of the world's oracles.

"I lost my abilities just after the Giant war. Apollo, the one who grants of all the seers' powers, thankfully got all our power back. You'll see him around here sometimes, for a while anyway."

I Asked her what Apollo did to restore her oracle powers, and Rachel turned to face me as we walked to the armoury.

"Apollo went on a series of quests along with a new girl, Meg McCaffrey. She and Apollo eventually found the cause, fixed it and so now we're here, despite her originally working for the enemy. Anyway, enough of that, I guess I should introduce you to more of your fellow campers once we sort you out with a weapon."

Chloё had apparently explained to Rachel and the others that I had lost the original weapon I had in the river, but I doubted I'd miss it much when I was told this a few moments ago. The armoury was pretty much like a garden shed, bar one or two small braziers outside. Rachel unlocked the shed, and we both walked in once the light turned on.

"Wow, very very shiny, I get one of these huh? How much does all this cost?"

"I don't know whether you're joking or not. If you mean in dollars, they're pretty much worthless, seeing as they are made of mystical metals like Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. In the mortal world they have no real use or value." For some reason, I already knew the answer, and yet I didn't.

"Never mind... how do I pick?"

"That's easy, just go through and try the ones you like the look of, see if they suit you. We can pick out a few, take them over to the training arena so you can get a feel for each one if you'd like."

"Let's do that...How about this one?" I said as I picked up an old sword with a leather strap wrapped around the handle.

"That's junk. Can't you see the way it's been battered? We only really use it for training sometimes."

"Okay...this one looks nice" It was a dagger, reasonably weighted, and not too flashy. I put it in the maybe pile. Rachel gave me a hand by pointing out weapons that she thought would suit me and gave her honest opinion on the ones that were perhaps not so endearing. After 5 minutes we'd managed to collect about three or four well suited swords and daggers, a bow, and even an axe.

The next one that caught my eye was a bronze sword with a small emerald encrusted in it's hilt. As I try to lift it off the wall from it's bracket it turns red hot, burning my hands. As it clatters to the floor after I drop it, Rachel picks it back up without any qualms and puts it back.

"What just happened? You alright?"She was very concerned, and she grabs a medical pouch that was in the corner, opens it and hands me a yellowy lump of something.

"I'll be fine...IT BURNT ME!"

"Eat that, it'll make you feel better. That amount should be okay to handle." And I obliged.

Boy was I disappointed. I couldn't taste a thing. Surely everything has a taste of some kind, right? Even if it's so faint you don't notice it, it should still be there. Yet here I was chewing on a block of pure tastelessness. After a while, I noticed my hand begin to heal the blisters from the heat, which was a relief, as well as not having to eat any more magic food.

"That was ambrosia, food of the gods. Along with their drink, nectar, it has healing properties. But only if you take a small dose. You don't want to find out what happens in big doses."

"Oh trust me I won't if I can help it, 'cause I'll never be wanting that stuff again, it is _literally_ the worst"

She was evidently confused about what I was trying to say. I could tell by her face.

"Whenever anyone else tells me about what it's like they all say it's the best thing they've ever tasted. How come you don't like it?"

"Why? I can't taste anything. Why eat something you can't taste? I'd rather eat something disgusting than never tasting it."

"Oh...that's really sad."She smiled sympathetically and continued on,"Come on, we should probably get back to weapons. Can you see anymore?"

"How about that one over there?" This time it was a slightly longer sword than the last. The blade was black and was inlaid with slivers of silver around the handle edge in a complex pattern.

It radiated a kind of cold feeling. But for some reason I was drawn to it, just like it drew in the shadows around it, It just seemed right to me. If this sword was in here all the time, how come I didn't pick it before?

"This one. I don't care about the others anymore. It just has to be this" As I take it off it's mount, I feel it's weight in my hands, and it was perfect. The balance on the thing was just right, despite the length.

"I've never seen that one before, it's kinda creepy. Makes me wonder whether you're related to Hades."

"He's the death, underworld god you told me about earlier right? It'd be pretty cool."

We tidied up the place and continued off to the Arena with the sword I'd just acquired. We walk in and find a shady looking kid with a pallid complexion talking to a blonde guy with a bow over his back.

"Hey Will, hey Nico!" The pair turn around, surprised that Rachel and I were there. Will Smiled and Nico just looked at me and studied me hard.

"As you may know, Haxolo can't remember anything, so we're doing introductions again."

"Yeah okay then," Will approached me, offering his hand out for a handshake"So I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo, and that over there is my boyfriend Nico, son of Hades. He's in a bit of a bad mood today so he won't talk much."

"I can speak for myself you know. Yeah I'm Nico Di Angelo, we've met before but you don't remember, do you?" I shake my head.

"Never mind, I knew a titan once that went through the same problem, but he sacrificed himself to save Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus.

"I see you got a new sword? I have a sword made of the same stuff,"He draws his sword from it's scabbard and hands it to me to have a look. It's of a completely different design, but the materials were the same.

"It's called Stygian Iron, cooled in the river Styx, hence it's name. Swords forged from it will absorb the essence of monsters, as well as mortal souls, so don't cut yourself on it." I hand him back his sword which he then sheathes again.

"Usually only creatures of the underworld are able to wield such a weapon, how you managed it I don't know. I don't think you're a son of Hades or Pluto, his Roman counterpart." Nico's delved into deep thought, meaning he began to scowl a little.

"So, wanna learn how to shoot a bow and arrow?" Will asked.

"Nah, He's good. Gotta finish our tour first. Maybe some other time Will." Rachel covered for me after picking up on my sense of apprehension towards the proposition of archery.

"Well, see ya 'round Hax!" I nod to both of them and Nico returns the gesture, while Will waves casually.

The next stop was the Cabins, and boy were there a lot of them. The number of cabins totalled 20 and each one of them completely different to the next. But before we even reached them there was an even bigger surprise awaiting us, because there was a massive bronze dragon in our path and it was frickin' huge.

 **Chapter 4 is finally finished, what a relief! I hope all of you enjoyed it, and please keep sending me reviews. I want to know what you think! If you're confused about the swords and the underworld business then I'm sorry for being evil, it just means that my plan is working. So go ahead, ping me any theories you have and I might even confirm them (don't tell anyone if I do though)!**

 **Thank you all for sticking with it, I hope to see you all soon!**


	7. Yet another prophecy

**Chapter 5: Yet another prophecy**

"THERE'S A GODDAMN DRAGON!"

"Hey, calm down HaxE, it's just Festus" Rachel tried calming it down but my adrenaline was still up. "That dragon belongs to Leo Valdez, and he protects camp from danger if needed."

"Wait, is he made of metal?"

"Of course he is, isn't he a beauty?"

I heard a voice behind me call out to the both of us and I find a scrawny looking Hispanic boy running towards us. His grin was wide and mischievous and he had so much nervous energy that I wandered why he hadn't exploded yet; I definitely didn't want to give him coffee. He wore a tool belt around his waist and he was carrying a screwdriver in his right hand, twiddling it around his fingers.

"Oh hey Leo, how you been? Haven't seen you all week."

"Yeah, we've been out getting more bronze sheets we need, but then Festus' leg fell off so I had to stop off in Minnesota for a few days to try and find it. Then Calypso decided to look for somewhere nice to stay for a holiday, and we spent like _so_ many dollars just booking a hotel room. No offence, but you women need to sort out your priorities."

Rachel smiled at this but I knew she was going make him pay for that comment just by looking at her eyes.

"We need to get _our_ priorities straight? I doubt that very much. You boys are so full of yourselfー"

Festus Roared (sort of) and Rachel's remark was cut off, because at that point a gleaming chariot descended from the sky.

"HELLO CAMP HALF BLOOD!"

"Oh great, it's Apollo again. He got his sun chariot back and he's been coming back here almost everyday for the past week. It's almost a shame he's a god again now." She sighed when she said that, but I was instantly confused.

"Hey, I thought Apollo was a god anyway, what do you mean by he's a god again?"

"Oh right, didn't explain that part. Yeah, he's a god, but he lost his powers after the Giants, so he had to redeem himself by going on quests and stuff. That's why he ended up fixing the oracle problem."

But now Leo was confused

"Hey HaxE, you were here for pretty much the entire summer, you should know about Apollo and stuff, you can't have forgotten that quickly could you?"

Rachel and I looked to each other and back to Leo.

"Uh, Apparently I had a bit of an accident in the underworld. I don't actually remember anything about myself apart from the last day or so."

His face suddenly changed into an almost slight panicked expression.

"Not even more memory loss, we can be going through that again!"

"Leo, it's not like before. He fell into the Lethe, his memories weren't stolen."

His expression calmed a bit, he was evidently relieved at the news, but then another realisation hit him.

"Wait...say what? The Lethe?"

"Oh you are so slow Valdez, yes it was the Lethe."

At the point Apollo came over after spotting Rachel and Leo from his chariot.

"So, how's my favourite oracle? Got anything going on?"

"I thought your stint as a mortal would make you slightly more modest, but I guess you're still as brash as ever."

"Hey, don't forget I'm a god, I could punish you for that." He spots me and tilts his head quizzically.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be out and about, I thought you had a dip in the Lethe."

"How come everyone has to mention the Lethe? I lost my memories, so what? I just want to live as much of a normal life as possible. Why do people have to confront me about it?" I was pretty annoyed at this point. How come I was tormented by such a misfortune?

But everyone else was ignoring my complaint, because Rachel had just collapsed, and began spewing green mist. But that wasn't the worst part. Her voice went all raspy and I was so weirded out by what she began to say:

" _Child of the first ones finds his way,_

 _Through trial and torment, death and dismay._

 _Foes be friends, friends be foes,_

 _Darkness reigns, but darkness falls._

 _His quest for peace, may never find,_

 _Until at last, the end of time."_

Silence.

No one understood the meaning of the omen, even Apollo look dumbfounded. As for Leo, who was holding Rachel and helping her up, he was speechless.

"We should get her to the medical wing, Leo do you think you can help me?"

"Wait, aren't you the god of healers?"

"I may be a god again but I still don't have all my powers back you know."

So we hefted Rachel onto our shoulders and carried her all the way to the big house. Now, I didn't know it at the time, but what we had just heard was really dangerous for all of us. A prophecy, and it was a big one.

" **Another Great prophecy?" I hear you ask. So cryptic, and yet so revealing to what is up and coming. I wonder whether you can guess any part of it. If you do I'll give you a special mention at the end of the novel (or even before!), because I'm a reasonably nice person.**

 **Anywho, it was** _ **so**_ **difficult to come up with the prophecy because:**

 *** I haven't fully planned all the events for the story yet, they're all vague impressions really.**

 *** Have _you_ ever tried to come up with a series of couplets that fit the message you're trying to get across? It's difficult believe me.**

 **Thanks again for reading, see you next time!**


	8. Council meeting

**Chapter 6: Council meeting**

 **A note:**

 **Just to say, in the last chapter I received a review from Darth Destroyer. He correctly pointed out that the prophecy doesn't rhyme well, but I have used techniques such as an Assonance, which is when vowel sounds are repeated but consonants are not, and also a half rhyme, when words are similar, but do not have matching vowel sounds. Just to let you know.**

As we reached the big house, after having only just come from it 50 minutes ago, I suddenly realised that despite weirding the hell out of me, this was probably what life as a demigod was pretty much like 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"Chiron come quick, Rachel's collapsed again and hasn't woken up yet."

The centaur came cantering out of the door, and said for them to put her on his back, which we did.

Back in the medical room, Chiron and Apollo got to work, giving her a series of herbs and other remedies, as well as chanting healing incantations. Apollo was quite frustrated that he could not use his natural abilities for healing here, but that didn't stop him from trying to help out.

Eventually she woke up, and to everyone's horror, including mine, her hair gradually became a pale grey colour.

"That's not right, not right at all. I haven't seen that happen in...well, i've never seen that happen"

"Seen what happen? Tell me Chiron, what's happening to me!?" Her expression really hurt Chiron, but he tried not to let it show.

"Leo, would you please inform all of the other head councilors that we will be having a meeting. Tell them to stop whatever they are doing and come straight away."

Leo ran out and continued on his errand, and Apollo was invited to attend the meeting as well if he wished, which he accepted.

"Haxolo, you may also attend, seeing as you witnessed this incident. Rachel, you may want to stay in here and rest a while."

"Hell no! I mean no disrespect Chiron, but this affects me just as much as anyone else. I request to be present."

"Very well, you are entitled to that. Lead the way into the rec room would you HaxE?"

We walked through and quite a few people were already gathered around the ping pong table, and more were on their way inside. Leo was sat the 5th position down the left, which I guess corresponded with the 9th cabin belonging to Hephaestus, and Nico was in the 13th cabin seat. Chiron headed the table, and I was stuck nearer the far end. Apollo however, remained standing, and everyone was stealing glances at Rachel, whose hair had suddenly made it's way to black, in stark contrast to my white hair. She made her way to a comfy armchair in the corner.

"You are all called here today to discuss the most recent events that you may or may not be aware of. These events started with the recent mind wiping of Haxolo, after falling into the Lethe fighting Melinoë on a rather botched reconnaissance mission."

Mutters went on around the table, and not surprisingly a few questions were asked.

"Does that mean he won't remember the last couple of weeks?"

"He won't remember his whole life Connor, let alone the last couple of weeks."

"Thank you Percy, I couldn't have put it better." Chiron continued "This incident is highly unfortunate. However close we were to finding out his origins has been set back tenfold with Haxolo now having to piece together the history he has lived before as well as his ancestry.

"Now I must tell you, I have seen many things happen in my immortal life, I have trained many heroes, each with a unique history, and some have tragic endings, some have lived for many, many years. However, I have never seen anyone quite so like Haxolo, and it is very unusual for someone to remain unclaimed this long, especially after the agreement."

Nico clears his throat and the room goes silent. Evidently he carries heavy weight amongst the members of the council, and perhaps a hidden fear as well.

"As Rachel was giving him a tour of the place, they met us in the training arena after coming from the armory. He has picked a… particular choice of weapon if I may say so, and I think it may interest a few of you." Chiron lifted his head at that, and addressed me inquisitively

"Haxolo, would you mind drawing your weapon for everyone to see?"

I stood up and obliged, drawing my sword from it's scabbard, and I watched every person's face turn to amazement, but some people had a twinge of apprehension etched on their expressions as well.

Apollo spoke out next, and his response to this sounded a little intrigued,

"Now _this_ is interesting. Your sword is of similar substance to Nico's is it not" Seeing as he addressed his question to me I reluctantly replied,

"So he tells me. It's Stygian Iron."

Murmurs echoed throughout the room as some people were clearly distraught by this news.

"Only creatures of the underworld tend to use such weapons" was one of the snippets I heard, as well as "Surely he can't be another son of Hades?". I tried not to show how I felt about this, surely the son or daughter of a particular god should be treated the same? How come everyone is treating this as some sort of armageddon? As I look across the room, Chloe catches my eye and mouths to me that I shouldn't worry, she'll talk to me later. It was almost as if she could sense my anxiety, but once she made this contact with me my worries faded away.

"Excuse me, has anyone got a pillow?"

"Just go to sleep Clovis" shouted someone from across the room, with a ruckus of laughter erupting all around.

"Can we get back to this please? I think what Chiron's trying to get us to talk about is really important, if you hadn't noticed." This blonde girl's stormy eyes pierced everyone else that dared to look into them. Any stereotypes against blondes were instantly thrown out of the window with this one, just by looking at her you could tell she was, bar Chiron, the smartest in the room.

"Sorry Annabeth." came the mumbled replies.

"Anyway, what we haven't asked yet is what has happened to Rachel. Your hair doesn't just turn black for no apparent reason, that must mean something really bad has happened, doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily, although again, I have never seen this happen to any other oracle that I have had the pleasure of knowing, just to point it out there" Apollo tried to reassure the council, but I don't think it helped much. A girl that was sat in the 10th position spoke next, and her voice seemed to calm everyone in the room, but rather unnaturally (she did say later on that she didn't mean to, but then again she is the daughter of Aphrodite).

"Black is again the colour of shadows and stuff right? Hades can manipulate shadows, so could this be the work of Hades?"

Nico shook his head incredulously at what she just said and gave an awkward laugh

"Piper, you have seriously got to be kidding me! Hades couldn't do such a thing as that, I would say that this has some other cause, one we cannot actually know yet."

I felt we were getting away from the major point of the issue and as much as I disliked the idea of speaking out but I did so anyway.

"Just after she collapsed and began the colour change, Rachel spoke about something that I think might be important." I look around at where Rachel was sat, but she was barely conscious, so I continued "It said something about the child of the first ones, and about darkness reigning."

Annabeth spoke up again, and she didn't hold back her "Chiron, what can this even mean? Child of the first ones? Does that mean the big three or some other first ones?" But Chiron didn't answer. He looked like he was in conflict about this, and that he didn't know how to reply. When he did speak, he wasn't even sure himself what this meant.

"I do not know child, I just don't know." He sighs and speaks to Leo and Apollo next "My lord Apollo, Leo, you witnessed this event, can you remember what was said? Word for word if you can."

Leo shrugged his shoulders and offered a "meh, too busy focusing on Rachel to be honest", but Apollo gave a much more productive response,

"I would advise everyone to be weary of what they are about to hear, for I have reason to believe that it is potentially a new great prophecy:

 _Child of the first ones finds his way, through trial and torment, death and dismay. Foes be friends, friends be foes, darkness reigns, but darkness falls. His quest for peace, may never find, until at last, the end of time_.

Believe me when I say that that sounds real bad."

"Thank you Apollo" Chiron's expression did not improve upon hearing the entire prophecy. In fact I think I saw it darken five shades. If anyone in the room wasn't already agitated by what was said earlier, they were all mortified now. There was a wave of panic spreading across faces, and at that moment Chiron adjourned the meeting, saying to counselors they should inform the rest of their cabin that a quest will be held to gather information about what this could possibly mean, and any campers that would wish to lead the quest should put their name forward by the end of the day.

As everyone else got up to leave, I stayed behind, along with a few others. Some of them I already knew, some I had only really met at the meeting. Apollo said he would leave immediately for Olympus and inform the gods of this new prophecy, which he proceeded to do. The one's remaining were Annabeth, Nico, Chloe, Percy, Leo, Piper, Will and myself, with Rachel in the corner, fast asleep. I took a deep breathe, trying to anticipate what could possibly happen next.

 **Now I definately know you will hate me after this chapter. I mean, the suspense must be killing you, right? So many questions you must be asking remain unanswered, and now a whole new batch has been forced upon you. Is Haxolo the son of Hades/Pluto, or is he a relation of some other underworld deity? What is both the significance of both Rachel's hair turning black, but also it being in complete contrast to Haxolo's hair colour?**

 **If you thought Chapter 6 as being deep, it won't compare to the next one, I can assure you. Just to make it worse for all of you. Being evil is so fun!**

 **Thanks for reading, I can't wait for all your responses to this. See ya!**


	9. A whole lot of advice

**Chapter 7: A whole lot of advice**

 **Long time no see, right? I've got there eventually. It was a nightmare writing this chapter because of how I wrote the last one. I didn't want to go back and change it, so I had to struggle getting something that worked with it, with no contradictions anywhere. But here we are for you. Enjoy!**

Chiron faced the remaining campers around me, knowing that he was probably about to face further probing about the meeting that had just taken place. Annabeth was the one to speak first.

"I take it that you know exactly what's going on out there, just like you knew about the Romans and the Egyptians" Chiron surprisingly shook his head,

"My dear Annabeth, I may seem to be wise and powerful, but even someone as old as me has their limits. You are right when you say that I knew about things that you did not, I still do, but I cannot help you now."

Annabeth looked stunned by Chiron's news, I could tell, but she eventually nodded and looked down at her feet. Percy wrapped his arm around her to comfort her as best he could.

"What I don't understand" began Piper "is what he's got to do with this."

She meant me. I was going to retort back but Will beat me to it.

"Hey Piper, be fair, Haxolo might have nothing to do with it at all. There isn't anything to say otherwise."

"No, I guess not, but I think that it's freaky coincidence that he loses all memory of his past life, comes back to camp, picks up a sword of the underworld and another Great Prophecy is spoken, hurting Rachel in the process."

Chiron held up his hands to calm everyone down, then he spoke to her softly.

"As I have previously states to Annabeth, I simply do not know whether this is coincidence or not. I am sorry that I cannot help you any further, perhaps you should go organise your cabin, tell them about the quest and everything else that was discussed."

"Yes Chiron." and Piper promptly left the Big House, leaving the rest of us here to ask Chiron like, a thousand questions that he probably wouldn't answer. Leo hadn't spoken for a while so when he did it kinda surprised me.

"So err...what exactly would we do on this quest? It's not like we have a specific task or anything."

"That, is a very good question. The best option would be to try and gather information relating to the contents of the prophecy. As you mentioned, we don't have an official quest so the rules may have to be bent for a while."

Leo's childish grin crept across his face.

"Now that's something I can do! Thanks Chiron!" Leo got up and ran out of the door so fast I was tempted to shout "arriba! Ándale, ándale!" but I held my tongue. I guess that was going to be Will's question too, because he got up to go, closely followed by Nico.

I decided to go next, because nobody else seemed to bother.

"I would like to ask you about me. What does the sword mean? Why is everyone against the underworld?"

"Not a lot of nice things come from the underworld; it is a place where the dead gather after all, and many monsters dwell down there. That being said, good things happen there too. You must try to accept that, if you are a child from the underworld, people will be scared of you because people fear death. As for the sword..."Chiron merely gave a shrug, offering no more advice.

That made some sense, and yet I got a feeling that it was totally unfair to judge someone based on their background. Then again Chiron was trying to be nice so I said thanks and got up, leaving the rest of them to ask whatever they felt like.

I'm not sure what I expected from that meeting to be honest but the more it went on the more restless I became. When I left the Big House the tension between campers became more obvious as I looked around, but I just kept walking down to the ocean that I had spotted on the tour around. If you ask me, the ocean is a pretty standard place, but nevertheless, I walked to the ocean regardless. As I got there I just stood there, occasionally lobbing pebbles across the surface.

"Hey! You made your way down to my spot I see?" It was Percy, the teen from the meeting earlier. From the looks of things he was at least eighteen, if not twenty, definitely old enough for uni. I didn't know what to make of him at the time, but I can say from later experience that he's pretty decent now.

"Oh hiya. I just had to get out and away for a bit, and there wasn't many other places that looked nice so I came here"

Percy shrugged.

"Well I find the sea to be pretty sweet. I'm glad you like it."

I looked at him and noticed that his arm had a tattoo of some kind.

"So uh, what's up with the markings?"

"You mean the arm" He rolled up his sleeve more to get a better look "I got that well over two years back, when us guys here found out about the Roman camp I got switched with my old buddy Jason. Of course it wasn't good enough for us to be swapped. Noo, we had to lose our memories too."

What was that? I stared at him in disbelief.

"So it's happening again? That can't be right!"

"Nah, our memories were stolen, you just got wiped clean like a whiteboard."

I tried to take that in. After I had understood I decided to change the subject.

"Some people seem to be worried by what's up at the moment, especially Annabeth."

"Yeah, well she is Athena's daughter, so if she doesn't know about it, she gets pretty angsty. Then again that's what I'm for, calming her down, giving her something to focus her attention on, let her call me names, y'know, the works. But the point is, if you'd seen a lot of weird stuff happen in about two weeks, with a new great prophecy and all, I'm sure that you'd be freakin' out too"

Percy had a good point and I knew I'd feel the same.

"Yeah, I guess so. You know what? You should become some kind of psychoanalyst or something."

"Pfft! Like Hades am I doing that! Anyway, I came down here for a swim, wanna come?"

"Say what!? No way, I'm alright really, don't let me stop you."

And with that, Percy immersed himself in the water and swam out, leaving me alone once again on the shore. I made my way back up to where the cabins were, and although I thought my day couldn't get any more complicated, I found myself face to face with a girl in the fire.


	10. The wisdom of the Fire Girl

**Chapter 8: The wisdom of the Fire Girl**

"Hello, come closer my friend. Don't be shy."Well damn it she's noticed me, I thought to myself. I'm not particularly afraid of fire as such, but when an 8 year old girl sits in the middle of one, starts calling you friend and speaks in an endearing manner, I thought it'd be wise to be cautious.

As I came closer, I noticed a lot of people walk by, ignoring the firegirl altogether, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. I stopped right in front of her and smiled politely.

"It's nice to see you again after all these years, though I'd doubt you'd remember me even after your splash in the Lethe. I am Hestia, goddess of the hearth, and I will help people when they need it most."

So why was a goddess helping me out you ask? Goodness knows. So I asked her what she meant, and why she was helping me.

"Oh, I am not helping you yet. Soon enough I shall, but for now I am only offering you some information that may help you, if you ask the right questions."

Right. Fair enough, so all I had to think of was what to ask, then I'd get an answer. Pretty simple right? Well, what do you think?

"So can you tell me who my parents are?"

"I'm sorry, I think you'll have to find that for yourself. Try something less simple, less direct."

I racked my brains to try and think of a question but nothing came. When I stopped thinking it suddenly became clear.

"What led up to me losing my memories?"

Hestia smiled as if to say that's better! She then continued to answer my query.

"If you recall what Chloё told you when you first woke up, she said that you were fighting Melinoë. All that is true, but she hasn't told you why you were fighting her in the first place. The reasons are complex, but it had something to do with your mother."

"My mother? Why didn't Chloё tell me?"

"Ah, I could easily tell you, but why don't you ask her yourself when you see her? I am sure she will be more than willing to share with you the information if you wait for the right moment."

I paused for thought. Then,

"Anyway… what exactly was the quest about anyway? Because Chiron said in the meeting that a prophecy's required to go on a quest, but he decided to bend the rules a little."

"You did receive a prophecy, but your quest was not completed. I am not allowed to say anything directly, but you should be able to find out later."

"So why can't you tell me? It doesn't make sense!"

And that was the moment I realised that Hestia's eyes had flames in the pupils, and that they had just flared up as if stoked up with coal. When she spoke next she spoke with a cautioning tone.

"I am trying my best to answer your questions, at least try to not to get sassy with a goddess."

"Sorry, it's just… oh I don't know anymore…"

"That's quite alright. Now do you have any more questions?"

No, I was all questioned out. Then I noticed some people around me looking my way, but not aware that I was stood talking to the fire.

"So why can't they see me? Is this witchcraft or something?"

This time she smiled very warmly at my comment.

"No it is not 'witchcraft', though it is a form of magic called the mist, that can stop people from seeing the world as it is. That is what I am using to obscure us from their vision, and it will stop mortals from seeing monsters, gods, and usually any other mythical object or person. Some mortals can see through it, like Rachel, but then again, they are very rare indeed."

Now I had definitely finished probing Hestia for answers, and I thanked her for her troubles, which she graciously accepted.

"No problem Haxolo, and remember, I'll be seeing you again some day."

* * *

It was around about the time for us to all go get something to eat from the mess hall, and it had just began to snow. All around me people were looking up, wondering why it was snowing, like they didn't understand that that was what weather tended to do in winter when it was cold enough. When I found Chloё to ask her about this, she said that the weather at camp was controlled by magic, so it rarely snowed ever. We talked a bit more, and I asked about the other cabins, and she said that a lot of the councillors were at college or university nowadays, but because it was winter, most of them had come back to camp, taking back their roles whilst they were here.

"Connor and Travis of Hermes, Annabeth, Percy and Piper from Aphrodite cabin had all been off to different universities around the country, but they came back for some reason or other. I don't know exactly though, but I'm not really one to pry. Seeing as my mother is Harmonia, I don't like to cause tension if I can help it."

We ended up talking more about her life and it turns out that her father was a UN peacekeeper before meeting Harmonia.

"Yeah, my dad's great, he sort of accepted the fact that the gods were real, and when they started… you know, doing the thing people do, they eventually had me" She shrugs and, having nothing else left to say we walk on in silence. Eventually we reach the mess hall and I noticed that everyone sat with their cabin,

"So Chloё...where do I sit?"

"Over with the Hermes cabin, that's where all the new and unclaimed go. But hey, don't worry, they are really nice if you don't have anything for them to steal"

"Why would you say that? I've got the most badass sword here and you're saying that they'll just take it?"

And Chloё just winked and left me standing there, going off to sit by herself at her table. I turn to the Hermes table and, as I approach a few of them smile, but for some reason, the rest of them seem awkward in my presence. It's almost as if they are scared of me, and for the first time in my life, I shamelessly felt good.


	11. An unexpected journey?

**Chapter 9: An unexpected journey?**

The meal I had was pretty good. Fries, barbecue sauce, ribs, the whole works. Now, I'm going to tell you, if someone offers you magically prepared food, usually it's not a good idea to take it, but I was starving and hey, why would food at camp be cursed or poisoned, right?

"Oh god, I could eat this for the rest of my life! How could anyone not eat this?"

"Yeah, say that to Piper"scoffed the girl next to me as she literally inhaled her hotdogs, and that made me curious.

"Why? Is she vegetarian or something?"

"Like, one of the only veggies here at camp. Not many people here stay vegetarian for long."

I changed my attention to one of the other Hermes cabin members, who was sporting a band aid on his left cheek

"So, how long have you guys been here?"

"Me? About a month now, and Leta there," pointing at the girl I had just been speaking to, "she came in a month before that."

"Yeah, and Caspian thought it was a good idea to pickpocket a member of Ares cabin last night, so his face got slashed open."

But Caspian shrugged it off,

"It was my pleasure. I mean, it was just sitting there all alone, I just thought I'd give it company"

And that is why Hermes cabin are some of the coolest campers you'll ever hang out with. Yes, I know that earlier I said that I didn't like their thieving, but besides that they are some of the most badass guys I've ever met, and not in your face about it either, which I can now say is joint first with Ares and Apollo cabin (Don't get me wrong, some of the individuals are great, just the cabins as a whole come off...what's the word? Arrogant, that's it).

As the night grew on though, Chiron stood and we all eventually grew silent. He coughed once to clear his throat and began.

"You may have heard from your head councilors that a quest is in order, and that any potential volunteers should come forward to argue the case why they feel they should go. What you must know however is this," Chiron paused for a second, and then, steadily continued "The prophecy you will have heard refers to a child of the first ones, but we can only speculate what that means. Annabeth and I have discussed it at length but we still are unsure. For that purpose, we ask those who feel they have a connection to this line to step out so we can make a decision by the end."

And I watch as only a handful of campers feel brave enough to stand. A weary member of Aphrodite cabin stood tall, but he seemed quite shy too.

"I think that, well, maybe...I should volunteer"

"Norman, you are most welcome to."

"Th...thanks Chiron"

One of the Hermes cabin lent into my ear and whispered

"Poor kid, he isn't a very confident speaker from what I can see. Looks can be deceiving, though I don't know about this one."

But I was amazed at his courage to stand up in front of everyone, even with his speech impediment

"Chiron sir, I...I know that my mu...mom is the oldest Olympian and that's why I…"he swallows nervously "buh but I also think...maybe we should consider Hecate?"

"We don't get involved that often Norman unless we have to, and our mother hasn't told us anything"

"Oh... okay...I still want to volunteer, It's just that...maybe someone else was better qu...qualified?"

And Chiron thanked him and asked a member of Hypnos cabin who had stood up. She seemed so much more aware than her half brother Clovis, but still had that sleepy look in her eyes.

"My father was a Titan I think, so I consider *yawn* ooh, sorry, where was I? Yeah, I consider myself to be reasonably qualified, though I think someone who was better at combat should tag along to *yawn* yaknow, protect me?"

"I thank you Daisy, but I think you also made a case against it being you. You must be able to at least use a physical weapon competently rather than making other people feel tired."

And Daisy promptly sat down next to Clovis and seemed to nod, but a few seconds later a bonk against wood could be heard as her head hit the table. The daughter of Hypnos had, unsurprisingly, fallen asleep.

And as the night grew colder, a few more volunteers were worked through to hear the case they made, but we wouldn't know who would be picked until the end. I was about to do a Daisy and doze off, but I noticed something amongst the trees. One thing however, it didn't seem nasty, just observant. As I looked at it I felt something, making me feel like I had to stand up.

"Oh, Haxolo, you wish to volunteer? Please, do tell us your reason" I don't know why I said what I said after this, but it felt right, it felt like I was meant to.

"I just feel...right about it. I don't really know, but it just feels like I must go on this quest."

Annabeth stood up to ask me why,

"But you don't even know who your parents are! How are you sure if the quest is meant for you?"

"Do you always know what a prophecy means straight away?"

"No but-"

"Exactly, so what if the quest _is_ for me? I just feel it that's all, surely you have felt the same at one point or another?"

And Annabeth sat back down as she realised that I was right. There are things that you just feel as a demigod and she knew it.

"Well, if we have no more volunteers...I think it's time for a singalong while I try and think about all this…" And Chiron walked off to the other end of the mess hall, and all of the campers worked their way down to the amphitheatre.

* * *

"What do you think HaxE? Do you really think that you were right? That you should have volunteered?" Percy came up to me and asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe, you've felt like that too right? Just knowing that you've got to do something without any evidence?"

"Yeah buddy, but I haven't felt that way in years. I don't quest that often anymore and I think the Fates know me enough to leave me well alone" He sighs, then goes on "To be honest though, I think I've done enough quests for a lifetime, and me and Annabeth should be going back to Uni next week, so I honestly couldn't help you if you get picked."

"I know, It's alright really, I'll get by, I always have"

The campers had all sung together for about an hour, and as we came to an end, Percy had seeked me out of the crowd to talk to me, though it wasn't that difficult for anyone to spot a tall white haired guy. And he immediately asked me the question. But the last thing I said confused him, as it did me

"What do you mean you always have?"

"I don't know, I just…"

"Nevermind, it don't matter" And the son of Poseidon turned away just as Chiron came walking up, with all the campers wearily watching, ready for his decision.

"I thank all of you who volunteered, but I think the Fates have already decided for us. From my many centuries as a teacher of demigods, I have learnt that instinct is one of the best assets any one of you could ever possess, and evidently, one of you displayed keen instinct this evening.

"Now, I am just as apprehensive as the next person about this decision, but I believe it is the correct one. Haxolo, you should be the one to lead the quest"

Whispers creeped all through the gathering, speculating why such a decision was taken, but they seemed accepting, and a lot of them were probably scared of me anyway, let alone Chiron. He beckoned me to go up to him and face the group.

"As per the custom, you get to pick two quest members to go with you, but be sure that the people you pick are people you can trust, and are willing to follow your leadership."

And I looked down across the campers, and I had a big decision to make. Who should I take? Who would want to go? The prophecy spoke of my friends being my enemies, and my enemies becoming friends, how was I supposed to pick someone who would end up betraying me? But I guess it didn't matter, because I had to pick two people, regardless of the circumstances at hand.

And that was when I spotted the two people I knew had to come with me, and it was either the best decision I ever made since I woke up, or the worst.

"I know I might sound _so_ weird, but to me it's perfect. So Norman? You wanna come?"

"M..me? You barely even know me, and I've never been on a quest b...b...before"

"Oh I figured, but I know it has to be you and me, if you still want it"

"Of course...but why me?"

"Doesn't matter, now, my second choice in order to keep us all in check…" and I seek the one person left that would make everyone so shocked "so what do you say, daughter of Harmonia?"

 **Well, March was the last time I updated, and I thought that I'd been leaving this chapter for** _ **way**_ **too long so here you are! So much is about to go up a notch from now on, and I hope you'll be there! Leave a review please, and I'll get the next one out ASAP. 'Til next time, see ya!**


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